Paul is gone for now, but expect him to come back

The word “suspend,” for dropping out of a presidential race connotes that in the future, the candidate could try again. This could not be more true than for Senator Rand Paul, who suspended his campaign today. This senator, who is a rising star in the Republican Party, could very well run again in the future, and most possibly win.

Senator Rand Paul rose to fame in the Senate after a lengthy filibuster over a bill that allowed drones to attack American citizens. Paul, who is a Libertarian, staunchly argued with this attack on Americans’ liberty, and won. As the son of Congressman Ron Paul, a Libertarian god, Paul is seen as the leader for the next wave of this movement, and was considered a viable candidate for this election.

The senator from Kentucky is wildly popular in his state, and has been one of the only Republicans to really reach out to other voters who would normally identify as Democrat. He has met with numerous Silicon Valley tycoons, and has even graced the pages of the fashionable Vogue Magazine. He is young, strong in his convictions, and a voice for a new type of Republican who wants limited government. Paul has a strong devotion to the constitution, and has made it part of his warpath to go after the Federal Reserve and the NSA.

So where did Paul go wrong? He did not go wrong with anything, except for timing. In such an unpredictable race, Trump came in and changed the entire electoral landscape. It has been extremely hard for any candidate to truly get their voice heard over the business billionaire’s voice and opinions, so Paul could not mobilize a movement that young Republicans could get behind. If it were just down to Paul and Bush, for example, we could see a very similar situation to one of Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.

The word “suspend” really means just that for Paul, as there is no doubt he is still eyeing the White House, but will have to wait for the right time to run again. In an election where most voters want an “anti-establishment” candidate, his position as a senator turned out to hurt him instead of help him. In the future, however, this could help him, as he continues to fight for what he believes in, and gain a popular following by doing so.

Do not count out Paul yet, because out of all the candidates and potential candidates in this race, we can almost bet that he will be back.